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Tuesday, February 17, 2004Antibiotic use in women is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, according to a study released Monday that raises new questions about the underlying causes of the deadly disease. .....The study, based on health data from more than 10,000 women in the Pacific Northwest, found that women who used the most antibiotics had twice the risk of breast cancer when compared with women who had not been given the drugs. That risk increased as the amount of antibiotics prescribed to a woman went up. The study was led by researchers at Group Health Cooperative, a Seattle-based health care provider that sees patients in Washington and Idaho. Researchers started with health data from more than 2,200 women cared for by Group Health Cooperative who had been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 1993 and 2001. They then compared the medical histories of the breast cancer patients with those of about 7,900 female patients who did not develop breast cancer, looking at everything from age to weight to the amount of antibiotics the women had been prescribed, over an average of 17 years. The more antibiotics the women had been prescribed, the higher the risk of breast cancer, they found. Women who had been prescribed smaller amounts of antibiotics -- anywhere from one to 25 prescriptions -- were about 1 1/2 times more likely to get breast cancer than those who took no antibiotics. Women who had received more than 25 prescriptions had twice the risk of breast cancer. This increased risk stayed constant regardless of the type of antibiotic the women had taken or the specific ailment the drugs had been prescribed for, the researchers said." The study is available at JAMA's website, in PDF format (also at this direct link. Here's what they really found. Out of 7,989 women who did not have breast cancer, 18% never used antibiotics, 51% used them 1 to 10 times, 22% used them 11 to 25 times, 6% used them 26 to 50 times and 2% used them over 50 times. On the other hand, out of 2,266 women who did have breast cancer, 14% never used antibiotics, 51% used them 1 to 10 times, 22% used them 11 to 25 times, 9% used them 26 to 50 times, and 3% used them over fifty times. Looks like both groups used antibiotics at the same rates, and over the same distribution curve. Of course, it's never a good idea to take antibiotics needlessly, but that's because of real side effects (bacterial resistance, allergies, diarrhea, etc.) not because they cause cancer. posted by Sydney on 2/17/2004 07:59:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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